


it's still a bright night

by Sempiternalis



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Execution, Internal Conflict, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Suicide, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 09:33:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7971898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sempiternalis/pseuds/Sempiternalis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>It still is a bright night</em>, Daehyun thinks as he brings his eyes to the sky, meeting the light of the moon and the stars. <em>How ironic, to meet my fate on such a beautiful night.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	it's still a bright night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Embers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Embers/gifts).



> This was supposed to be an entry for the_brownie_bunch_5, but it wasn't really complying it with the prompt, so I put it aside and wrote something else. Since it was Embers' prompt that made me write it, I thought it would be nice to gift it to her. Initially it had a happy ending, until I changed it. Whoops. Sorry for that.

The wind of the night breezes through Daehyun’s hair with cold fingers. A chill seeps through his garments and to the very core of his bones. He clenches his jaw so hard, his teeth might break, all in the attempt to stop himself from showing any signs of weakness or discomfort.

In front of him, Yongguk rows the boat across the deep, dark river. The water sloshes and ripples around the oars as the boat pushes forward in slow and tedious progress. The other river bank comes into view more and more as they advance, something Daehyun can also say about the permanent scowl on Yongguk’s face. The other man’s expression has not so much as broken into a grin during their solitary nocturnal travel. He rows the boat with scarce words and sounds, mind set to ignore Daehyun and his attempts at conversation as much as possible.

“Are you not tired?” Daehyun asks. “You must be. Break these chains and I will help you.” He brings his chained hands up, rattling the links for added effect. Yongguk ignores him.

 _It still is a bright night_ , Daehyun thinks as he brings his eyes to the sky, meeting the light of the moon and the stars. _How ironic, to meet my fate on such a beautiful night_.

It is through the bright light that Daehyun notices the signs of effort on Yongguk’s face, his muscles pulling and contracting under his tunic. He has been rowing tirelessly ever since they left the bank, which Daehyun presumes happened a little under an hour ago.

“Your muscles must ache,” he tries again, his voice sweet and voice alike. “Won’t you take a break and let me soothe them?” Even as Yongguk gives him a deep frown, Daehyun smiles, tilting his head to the side. “Will you at least let me when we make to the bank?” He reaches out a foot to wander over Yongguk’s, but the other kicks it away and Daehyun retreats into himself with a wounded look on his face. Yongguk averts his eyes.

Pain, real pain shoots up Daehyun’s leg, overshadowed only by the incessant burning at his wrists. Chains never posed a problem to him, but chains laced with wolf’s bane did.

“My wrists are burning, Yongguk,” Daehyun whines, tossing his façade aside. He can feel the wounds chafe against the links, blood trickling down his fingers. “Just take them off, I promise I will behave.”

Yongguk grunts, “Shut up.”

“Please, it hurts me!”

“How many times have you heard that from the folk you massacred? Have you ever stopped?” Yongguk snaps.

That silences Daehyun.

It comes soon enough, the bank coming closer and closer to view. When the boat stops and Yongguk sets the oars aside, Daehyun tries to steady his quickening pulse. He tries not to flinch when Yongguk gives him a harsh yank to pull him out of the boat. His arm pulses where Yongguk’s fingers had pressed, but he gets no reprieve as the other’s grip on him never ceases.

As he stands, the gloomy view of the dark forest reveals in front of him. Without gallantries, Yongguk drags him to the trees, Daehyun’s sense of foreboding increasing with each step. He should be calmer, he thinks. He already knows what is going to happen. Into the darkest of woods, under the canopy of thick leaves, every shred of hope seems to be forgotten. There is only one reason why people are brought here.

To die.

At least his feet are not bound with chains, too, Daehyun thinks as he tries to make light of his situation. Looking up, though, he is only met with thickness and blackness—no ray of the beautiful moon that shone above him only moments ago and probably for the last time ever. His limbs ache, his wrists burn, and from where Yongguk holds him so tight, he feels like his arm might be severed. As they descend through the woods and come by a clearing bathed in the clear light of the moon, Daehyun dares to smile at the sight. But as he’s pushed on his knees on the damp ground, his hopes drown along with his heart.

Although there are no gallantries to Yongguk this night, no courtesies to abide by, there is something spectacularly grandiose about him as he unsheathes his long sword. It makes a slashing sound against the intricate scabbard. Brought out, the pure deadly steel catches on the light and for a moment, Daehyun thinks he can see both their reflections on the blade along with the moon. Maybe the blade knows, he thinks as he swallows and lowers his eyes to the ground. The sight of the black earth brings him no joy, though, so he finds himself rising his sight to watch over the looming sword and his executioner.

“Any last words?” Yongguk offers coldly.

Daehyun had expected a tremble, a quiver in his voice. Had expected his hands to shake, succumbing under the weight of the great sword burdened by this despairing task. There is no trace of feeling in that cold voice and Daehyun finds he is the one quivering. This is no place for his games, no place for his attempts to seek escape through means that now seem trivial and futile. The Yongguk in front of him looks nothing like the Yongguk he knew. The Yongguk who would smile to him and take him on long runs through scented forests could very well belong to a different, remote life. This person standing in front of him now, dangling death above his head, is not even a shadow of Daehyun’s past knowledge—he is somebody else entirely. He has changed. They both have.

When Daehyun says nothing, Yongguk repeats, “Any last words?”

It makes Daehyun wonder, feel like he’s stalling, but the still cold voice tells him otherwise.

“I’m sorry,” is all Daehyun manages to say out of the sea of words breaking through the dams of his mind.

“As you should be,” Yongguk grunts. “Anything else?” Daehyun opens his mouth. “Very well, then,” Yongguk decides and swings his sword too quickly for Daehyun to react.

“Wait!” he shouts and the blade stops just a hair before Daehyun’s neck. His heart is stabbing, Yongguk can hear it for sure, but Daehyun makes no attempt to mask his fear. With dismay on his face and in his words, Daehyun utters, “You were going to kill me.” His wide, appalled eyes, meet Yongguk’s unreadable ones.

Yongguk brings the sword by his side. It takes a while for him to say anything. “That’s what I’m supposed to do.”

“Is it what you want, as well?” Daehyun asks on a small voice, feeling like the small child he once was, looking up to Yongguk with awe and reverence.

Yongguk presses his lips in a thin line. “What I want does not matter.”

“I still wish to know,” the other petulantly presses.

Seemingly tired by too many useless words, Yongguk positions himself to give the deadly strike.

“I wish to know,” Daehyun stops him. “Don’t you?”

“What?” Yongguk spats through his teeth.

“Why. Why this all is happening.” When Yongguk shows no signs of curiosity, he adds, “It’s the last time we’ll ever get to talk. Isn’t there anything you wish to know? Wouldn’t you be more at peace?”

“That you think I’d be _troubled_ by anything you do or represent is unsurprisingly arrogant,” comes Yongguk’s acidic reply. “I have no need of your _words_ , I’ve heard them all before and they were all lies. If you think you can sway me into sparing your life, then you are a bloody fool.”

Daehyun is determined. “Fine, then. I will do the talking.”

“There is nothing you could tell me that I do not already know!” Yongguk shouts, the grip on his sword’s hilt insane. “I know I was to be the alpha of the most powerful pack in the realm, I was to take the throne one day and rule like my father, and his grandfather before him, and his great-grandfather before him, but _you_ , you ruined it.” His words are so reproachful, that Daehyun starts to think Yongguk truly hates him. “You left like a coward. The omega who turned into a monster because he wanted more than he could have,” his voice turns mocking. “You left and took every hope I ever had with you. And thanks to you, now I only have this,” he raises the glistening steel.

“Your hopes were already dead, Yongguk.” Daehyun sounds as if he is about to cry. “You know very well what happens to alphas who harbor monsters in their packs, let alone to alphas who _mate_ with them.” He looks at him with pleading eyes. “I never knew what I was. This happens once a thousand years. Who ever thought the son of the sweet Lady Seolhyun and brave Lord Daewon would turn out to be the mythical blood thirsty beast?”

Yongguk grunts, his teeth screeching.

“When a beast is found, his family is murdered because it is believed it will be weakened without any of his blood alive. They kill his alpha and his pack, too.”

“So you did the killing by yourself. You spared no one but me. Is that because you wanted to let me be humiliated, to suffer through the perish of my future as I’m condemned to the fate of an executioner?” Yongguk’s voice booms.

“It was the beast in me!” Daehyun cries. “Everybody thinks the man and the beast wolf are the same, but they sell lies because they are too prejudiced to accept that even beasts can be saved. I have no control over what I do when I turn into the beast, there is no shred of humanity left in me. Only when I shift back to my human form do I realize what I did. And I hate it. I hate every bit of it, of myself. I cannot control it and I will never learn how, so maybe I do deserve to die.”

Yongguk tightens the grip on the hilt of his sword.

“Do it,” Daehyun beckons, baring his neck.

So much more life should be lined in front of him, one of peace and joy, with sunny days and quiet nights under the moon, running and hunting through the woods. His pack mates would be by his side, his parents smiling and giving their blessings. And Yongguk. He would be there, too, as an alpha and as a mate, stern when he has too, but sweet when they’re alone. Daehyun would kiss him a lot when they would be alone—oh, how he misses kissing him and being held close. He wants that life, the perfect life. But it is only a dream. Everybody in it is dead except the man sent to kill him.

No man should wield a sword like this. Nobody should. Yongguk was an alpha, strong and proud. He had a bright destiny, a perfect life ahead of him—all taken in one violent swoop. He can fix that now, he can make the one responsible being pay for this. As he swings the blade, exhaustion cripples him, saltwater prickling at his eyes.

Daehyun closes his eyes, waiting for the severing blow to come. “Come on, Yongguk,” he insists when the other takes too long to act. “I cannot stay brave forever.”

The image brings a raining flashback that clouds his eyes, and Yongguk blinks, trying to steady himself. The night when Daehyun bared his neck so Yongguk could attach kisses to the soft, scented skin. It was the first night when he held Daehyun so close, drowning into him and his perfumed scent, his pure and honest eyes. The night remains unchanged in his thoughts, Daehyun’s whispery voice close to his ear, haunting him _after_ , making his chest ache and his eyes burn.

Yongguk lifts the sword—for his pack, for the realm, for all the innocent people who have died at the hands of the blood thirsty beast. But instead of giving Daehyun the last kiss of steel, he thrusts the blade into the earth with such force, that it goes in to the hilt.

“Fuck!” he shouts, anguish so apparent in his tone.

Daehyun opens his eyes to see the sword buried in front of him and Yongguk pacing around in circles, frantic and beyond troubled. He feels as if in a daze, trapped in a state of dream, where things are not quite real and reality awaits for him to wake up just behind the corner. The blow comes, but a different one. Yongguk’s heavy backhand collides with his cheek, leaving it smarting behind and moving his head to the side. A thin strip of blood trickles from his lower lip, but he tries not to wipe it. He reminisces the last time Yongguk gave him a strike like that; shortly after he’d been caught stealing, and Yongguk had apologized profusely after, all the while kissing his inflamed cheek. He had deserved it then, he deserves worse now.

“I’m sorry,” Yongguk falls to his knees, tears glistening in his eyes. “It was not you, it was never you…”

“You finally understand,” Daehyun speaks with a sad smile. “When I have made amends with my fate.”

His former alpha rubs at his cheeks, sniffling.

“I thought you were going to kill me,” Daehyun admits, looking at the glimmering hilt. “That blade was made for severing the heads of beasts like me.”

A bitter laugh. “I thought so, too. Nights had I agonized, picturing this very moment, looking you in the eye for one last time. I prayed for it to never come, even though I knew it meant many more lives lost. I just said to myself, in the end you do what you gotta do. Daehyun was never who you thought him to be.”

A silence.

“I’m sorry.” Daehyun’s whispering words.

“I wish you killed me, too.”

“I’d say I couldn’t. You’re my mate, the love of my life. The beast does not know that. The beast kills everything that dares to stand in its way.”

“You killed my pack.”

Daehyun lowers his eyes in shame.

“You killed your family.”

He eyes the sword.

“You ruined _our_ future.”

The words weigh heavy between them, slumping Daehyun’s shoulders.

“You should kill me,” he says. Yongguk makes no move to the sword. “You know as well as I that I deserve to die. My crimes are too atrocious to be forgiven. There is no hope left for me. With every transformation, I’m closer to the beast taking over forever. Save the realm. Save yourself.”

Despite the words, Yongguk does something entirely different. He uncuffs the chains binding Daehyun’s wrists, all under disbelieving eyes.

Yongguk looks at him. “I still love you.” Daehyun’s eyes widen, mouth hung agape. “Even now. Even in the shock of what you did. I _always_ loved you. That’s why I was so afraid of this moment. It didn’t have to be me. I’d told my father, after what you did, this is not Daehyun. He is not like this, I’d have known. Something must have taken a hold of him. We can save him.” A sad smile appears on his face. “He refused to listen.”

He takes Daehyun’s wrists in his hands, the wounds healing with the power of the dormant alpha still lingering inside. “Was I right?” By now, tears stream down Daehyun’s face.

“You should kill me,” he pleads.

Cupping his face, Yongguk comes closer to kiss him. In its softness, it is almost chaste; however, years of agony and longing are poured into it. Yongguk pecks Daehyun’s lips, swiping at the healing tear in his lower lip. He tastes the same to him.

“Kill me,” Daehyun begs still, their foreheads touching.

Yongguk breathes in deeply, the weight of the world and the agonizing task pressing down on his shoulders, hurting, unrelenting. He tucks Daehyun to his chest, taking in his unchanged scent. It is still reflex for Daehyun to huddle closer, to press himself against his mate, to seek his warmth, his grounding presence.

“Remember how you used to always have scraped knees and elbows from always climbing on walls and trees? It didn’t matter you could heal fast, you’d always find a way to hurt yourself again.” Yongguk smiles against Daehyun’s hair. “You, laughing and jumping on my back, challenging me to races across the woods. Beautiful, untainted and perfect. That is the image I always wanted to keep of you.”

Daehyun hides his face into Yongguk’s chest, trying to muffle his sobs.

“Because whenever I looked into your eyes, I only saw purity. I could see no glimmer of evil, no trace of the beast lying within. I knew you before. Loved you. That’s why I could never truly think of you as a beast. Even now,” he brings Daehyun’s face to look upon it. “I cannot see evil within you.”

“The evil that is hidden is the most dangerous of them all,” Daehyun whispers, eyes downcast.

Yongguk chills, his breath hitching. His grandfather used to tell that to them, words that rang true when one of their elders turned against them, lusting for power and control.

The moon settles upon them as Daehyun looks over Yongguk, tracing the softening contours of his face with the tips of his fingers. Yongguk’s eyes shine golden, a far cry from their past red, a testament of Daehyun’s crimes.

“We were doomed from the start, weren’t we?” Yongguk whispers, covering Daehyun’s hands with his own.

Daehyun nods, leaning over to kiss the lips of the man whose love for he is so scared to let go of. “What I did is beyond forgiveness, Yongguk,” Daehyun speaks. “I am well past the point of redeeming. You know what you have to do. You have always known.”

“But what if we can find a way to stop this? To save you?” Yongguk is hopeful.

Daehyun cuts the weak wings of newly found hope. “You know how unlikely that is. It is a risk we cannot afford to take.”

Yongguk’s chin quivers and his chest tightens. Daehyun’s rough hands rub at his cheeks, willing the salt away.

“My sweet love.” Daehyun smiles, hurting all over. “You have always been so brave for me. It is time for you to be brave one last time. I forgive you. Promise me you will forgive yourself, too.”

Yongguk had tried to swim against the current once, when he was younger and not quite grown into himself yet. His muscles soon came to burn and his efforts turned futile. The water would keep pushing him back, haltering his advances. He had left the river with a failure and an aching body. This moment now does not feel different in the slightest, the aching in his body soothed only when he kisses Daehyun for one last time. He does not want to part, he never wants to part, and from how Daehyun clutches on to him, he does not want to either.

Daehyun looks at him with resignation when he stands, the sword grabbed from the earth, its weight heavier than it has ever been. Daehyun smiles.

“Goodbye.”

An echo.

“Goodbye.”

Yongguk steadies, aims, and blows.

Daehyun’s head rolls on the earth, away from his lifeless body.

The forest grows darker around Yongguk, leaves and branches moving to obstruct the glimmer of the moon. Yongguk is grateful for the blackness. He cannot bear to look upon the contours of his crime.

“This gets done,” he murmurs to the emptiness, to the cavity opening in his chest.

On reflex, he finds the dagger hidden at his belt. Outside the trees, the boat waits for him to row back and away. One person only will wait for him on the other shore.

“Wait for me, Daehyunnie.”

A slash and he falls to the ground, the moon revealing itself again to cast a light upon the dead lovers.


End file.
